FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Pedro Azenha is Hawaii's leading scorer and needs just 79 more kills to reach 400 in his career.
UH travels
to face Matadors
Consistency. It's been the bane of many a volleyball team this season.
MPSF men's volleyball
Who: Hawaii (11-3, 8-2) at CSU Northridge (11-6, 6-5).
When: Tomorrow and Friday, 5 p.m. Hawaii time.
Where: The Matadome (1,600), Northridge, Calif.
Radio: Both matches live, KKEA 1420-AM.
TV: None.
Series: Hawaii leads 33-10.
Next up: Hawaii concludes its road trip with March 8-9 matches at USC.
It's one of the reasons the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation has been so unpredictable. Another is the parity that lends truth to the saying, "On any given night anyone can win."
Midway through the conference season, only 2 1/2 games separate the top-five teams: BYU (9-1), Hawaii (8-2), Long Beach State (9-3), UCLA (8-3) and Pepperdine (6-3). Lurking a game behind the Waves at 6-3 are two very dangerous teams: Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara.
Northridge handed BYU its only loss so far and also knocked off Pepperdine and Long Beach State. UCSB defeated Hawaii and, last week, shocked Long Beach State 3-0.
"This league is so tough and competitive that if you don't come ready to play it is real tough to win against anyone in the MPSF," Northridge coach Jeff Campbell said yesterday. "For us, if we play at the top of our game, then we are capable of beating any team in the league. But consistent play has been our Achilles heel."
The Matadors will look to step up in the standings this week when hosting the Warriors tomorrow and Friday. Campbell isn't sure which Hawaii team he'll see at the Matadome: the one that ran its winning streak to nine with a comeback victory over UCLA Thursday, or the one that struggled in losing to the Bruins on Saturday.
The Warriors had a 6 a.m. practice yesterday and were able to attend morning classes before leaving for the airport. They had plenty of time to think about their identity crisis during yesterday's flight to Los Angeles.
"Practice was good, really good," Hawaii coach Mike Wilton said last night. "I think the Saturday is something to build on, something that can define the season.
"Northridge is good and I've spent a lot of time watching how they beat Pepperdine. They have good players, especially their freshman opposite (Dan Rhodes). This is going to be a tougher road trip than the one with Stanford and UOP. We'll have some good challenges."
Campbell feels the same.
"We are very excited to be playing Hawaii," he said. "We realize that Hawaii represents one of the best teams in our conference and that our matches against them will have to be played at a very high level for us."
The keys to defeating the Warriors are to contain their big hitters and prevent freshman setter Brian Beckwith from running the multi-pronged attack efficiently. The Matadors had big problems trying to stop Long Beach State last week and were outblocked 15-6 in losing 30-28, 30-22, 31-29 last Wednesday.
Northridge is also expected to be using senior backup setter Billy Allen (6.27 assists per game) instead of Ty Tramblie tomorrow, according to Campbell. Tramblie (11.77 apg) suffered a shoulder sublexation on the first play of Friday's match against UCSD; he had started 15 of the Matadors' 17 matches.
Rhodes leads the Matadors in kills, averaging 4.8 per game. He had 22 in the loss to the 49ers and 20 in the victory over the Tritons. Northridge will be at a slight height disadvantage, with its starting lineup averaging 6-foot-4 to the Warriors' 6-6.
"When we beat Pepperdine and BYU, we played pretty well and won both matches in close Game 5s," Campbell said. "We need to be consistent and play well."
The Matadors have beaten the best but have also lost to USC (4-12, 3-7).
"They're a very dangerous, especially at home," Wilton said. "It's a tough place to play."
NOTES: When Hawaii lost to CSU Northridge last year, it snapped an eight-match winning streak against the Matadors dating back to 1997 ... Senior hitter Arri Jeschke (sore shoulder), who sat out last week's matches with UCLA, is healthy and made the road trip.
